August 22, 2020

 Excerpted from Being Peace by Thich Nhat Hanh

The Wheel and the Cross (watercolor/collage) by Misha Merrill

    Meditation is not to get out of society, to escape from society, but to prepare for a reentry into society. We call this "engaged Buddhism." When we go to a meditation center, we may have the impression that we leave everything behind-family, society, and all the complications involved with them-and come as an individual in order to practice and to search for peace. This is already an illusion, because in Buddhism there is no such thing as an individual. ...

     In the same way, the individual is made of non-individual elements. How do you expect to leave everything behind when you enter a meditation center? The kind of suffering that you carry in your heart, that is society itself. You bring that with you, you bring society with you. You bring all of us with you. When you meditate, it is not just for yourself, you do it for the whole society. You seek solutions to your problems not only for yourself, but for all of us. 

https://wtf.tw/ref/nhat_hanh_being_peace.pdf

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Our ZHS on-line schedule

• Mondays: 7-8:30pm - zazen, short service, lecture/discussion
• Tuesdays-Fridays: 5:30-6:10pm - zazen, offering of merit/bows
• Saturdays: 8:00-10:15am - zazen, short service, tea, discussion/study
• For more information:  www.zenheartsangha.org) 

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Special bows for today: 

• Please offer bows for evacuated sangha members and their families (Lidia, Kathleen, Kat, and Misha)
• Please offer bows for John Lewis, civil rights leader, who died on July 17th
• Please continue to offer bows of well-being for:   
• Phyllis Merrill, Misha's mother, who is dying
• Ofelia Mendez, Jorge Luis Mendez, Lazara and her mother, relatives of Lilliana Mendez-Soto who have contracted COVID
• Sherril Miller, Shannon's aunt, who has a broken humerus
• Brent DeNardo, Aaron's brother, who has contracted COVID
• Rev. Les Kaye, Misha’s Zen teacher, who is recovering at home undergoing chemotherapy

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Wonderful links shared by sangha members and friends:

• Zen Heart Sangha website: resources about COVID-19: www.zenheartsangha.org
• From our dharma friends, Diane and Wing: Dismantling the master's house:  https://www.lionsroar.com/dismantling-the-masters-house/amp/
• From our dharma sister, Misha:  incredible graphics and information about COVID-19  https://informationisbeautiful.net/visualizations/covid-19-coronavirus-infographic-datapack/
• From our dharma brother, Bill:  Buddhism in women's prisons:   https://tricycle.org/magazine/buddhism-in-womens-prisons/

• From our dharma sister, Nancy:  Spirituality and interconnectedness through time   https://www.brainpickings.org/2018/04/19/lynn-margulis-talking-on-the-water/
• From our dharma sister, Camille: an important commentary on race, riots and society to help us understand from Trevor Noah https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v4amCfVbA_c
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Many thanks to those of you who are sending me articles to share, links to helpful information, and for making comments…it is a gift beyond measure. Please know that you can either leave a comment on the blog itself, or send something directly to me and I will be happy to paste it in.